Herbicides could be used to control malaria, ARC Federation Fellow Professor Geoffrey McFadden will reveal at the Australian Academy of Science's public lecture next week.
The lecture is the second in the series Fenner's Science Today and Tomorrow, which pays tribute to the life and science of the late Frank Fenner, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and chairman of the World Health Organisation committee responsible for eradicating smallpox globally. Professor Fenner worked on malaria control early in his career.
Malaria is a major global health problem, killing one million people every year. There is currently no vaccine and the parasite is resistant to most existing drugs.
Professor Geoffrey McFadden's research has uncovered that the malaria parasite was originally a plant-like organism. This has important implications for treatment, with his research showing that herbicides, initially designed to kill plants, also work against malaria.
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